STEM Mentoring for Youth with Disabilities: Research,

Practice, and Resources

Collaboration of Education Northwest/National Mentoring Center, Friends

for Youth, Indiana Mentoring Partnership, Mentor Michigan, Mentoring

Partnership of Minnesota, and Oregon Mentors

May 2012

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

Good to Know…

1

All attendees will receive an email after the webinar

that will include:

Instructions for how to access PDF of

presentation slides and webinar recording

Link to the Mentoring Forum for resources,

contact information & opportunities to continue

the dialogue

Please help us by taking the time to complete a

short 5-question survey as you exit the webinar.

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

2

Amber Troupe

Director

Mentor Michigan

April Riordan

Director of Training & Community

Partnerships

Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota

Sarah Kremer

Program Director

Friends for Youth

o Research

o Practice

o Innovation

Date: Third Thursday of every

month.

Time: 10-11:15am Pacific/11am-

12:15pm Mountain/12-1:15 pm

Central/1-2:15pm Eastern

Cost: Free

Participate in Today’s Webinar

• All attendees muted for best

sound

• Type questions and

comments in the question

box

• We may invite you to “raise

your hand” during interactive

activities

3

Today’s Webinar

1. STEM Mentoring for Youth with

Disabilities – Research Findings

2. Example Program: DO-IT, University

of Washington – Mentoring activities and resources

3. Recommendations

4. Q & A

4

Regional Research Institute for

Human Services Laurie Powers has been a Director or Co-

director of 47 research, demonstration, and

training projects funded by federal and

state agencies and national foundations,

and including the STEM Mentor Project

and several other studies of successful

mentoring approaches. Laurie's

work focuses on identifying and putting into

practice strategies to enable young people

with disabilities to express self-

determination and reach their education,

employment, and other goals for adult life.

5

LAURIE POWERS

ASSOCIATE DEAN

Regional Research Institute for

Human Services

Jo-Ann Sowers’ research and practice is

focused in the area of transition to quality

employment and life outcomes for youth

and young adults with disabilities. A

number of her programs and research

studies have included mentoring

components. Currently, she is the Principal

Investigator of a study to determine the

impact of STEM mentors on youth with

disabilities.

6

JO-ANN SOWERS

RESEARCH PROFESSOR

Disabilities, Opportunities,

Internetworking, & Technology Center

Scott Bellman has worked for over ten

years at the University of Washington’s

DO-IT Center. DO-IT promotes

postsecondary education and challenging

careers such as science, technology,

engineering, and math (STEM) for people

with disabilities. Scott manages grant

activities that seek to remove barriers in

educational settings, prepare participants

for careers, and develop resources for a

wide variety of stakeholders. He received a

Masters Degree in Rehabilitation

Counseling and is a Licensed Mental

Health Counselor in Washington State.

7

SCOTT BELLMAN

PROGRAM MANAGER

STEM Mentoring for Youth

with Disabilities: Research,

Practice, and Resources

Supported in part by Grant # HRD 0834195 from the

RDE Program of the National Science Foundation.

Background

• Individuals with disabilities are

underrepresented in STEM

• Leadership of NSF STEM Research in

Disabilities Education (RDE) Program

• Growing body of knowledge about effective

mentoring

• Our interest and research and practice

experience related to mentoring as a whole

and, in particular, for young people with

disabilities

What Matters

Research Review

• Methods – Searched for published research articles on mentoring of

young people ages 14-30 (with a few exceptions)

– Articles focusing on STEM mentoring youth with

disabilities, non-STEM mentoring youth with disabilities,

STEM mentoring females, racial and ethnic minority youth,

major studies of mentoring with at-risk youth

• RDE Alliances have contributed extensive knowledge on

STEM mentoring for youth with disabilities

– Examined study methods, outcomes, mentoring program

and intervention processes, mentor and mentee

characteristics, and mentor-mentee matching

Key Findings • Important findings have emerged, however

definitive evidence that mentoring causes certain outcomes requires more research using rigorous methods. – Experimental, quasi-experimental, mixed

methods, longitudinal research

– Compare aspects of mentoring that are thought to improve outcomes (e.g., matching) and study longer term outcomes (increased postsecondary and career success)

Key Findings

• STEM and other mentoring has positive benefits for young people with disabilities.

• Mentoring is associated with increased confidence, knowledge, and engagement in STEM and other areas.

• Young people with disabilities benefit from STEM mentoring provided by mentors without and with disabilities.

• Strengths-oriented mentors who foster positive relationships with mentees are most effective.

• Experiential activities and information sharing in areas valued by the youth appear to be important for effective mentoring.

Key Findings

• Short-term, focused, and consistent STEM and other mentoring (less than 1 year) can be effective.

• Successful matching of STEM and other mentors and mentees appears most related to mentors and mentees having compatible personalities, and shared experiences and interests (not necessarily in same STEM area). – More research is needed to sort out when other

factors make a difference; for example, when similar race, gender, or functional challenges are important and which factors are likely to trump others in matching mentors and young people.

Key Findings • Developmental timing matters. For example, STEM

mentoring for 14 year olds is different than STEM mentoring for 17 year olds.

• Support for mentors and mentees interacting in groups as well as individually, and for e-mentoring. Need to learn more about the conditions under which each type of mentoring, and mentoring combinations, are most effective.

• Program fidelity is very important (having clear goals, designing and offering mentoring experiences directly tied to those goals, orientation for mentor and mentee, mentor training and ongoing support, program evaluation that feeds into program improvement).

Mentoring Activities of

the DO-IT Center

Electronic Mentoring

DO-IT Programs have opted for email

discussion lists over chat rooms, web-

based discussion threads, and Internet

chat rooms.

Social networking activities are student-driven.

Electronic Mentoring

Discussion list with all mentors and mentees

Closed discussion lists

Supports mentor and peer support

Special-topic subgroups

Supported with in-person events and activities

Electronic Mentoring

Ability to communicate over great distances quickly, and inexpensively

Elimination of schedule constraints

Communication with more than one person at a time

Reduces initial impact of disability

Technology can reduce impact of communication disabilities (speech, writing, reading)

Allows dual role of mentor and mentee

Provides mode of sharing resources and announcements

Mentoring Resources

Online Knowledge Base:

www.uw.edu/doit/Stem/kb.html

Knowledge Base Sample Questions:

What is the role of a mentor?

What are tips for making online mentoring successful?

What benefits do mentors get from a mentoring relationship?

What is the benefit of e-mentoring to students with disabilities?

Examples of Other

DO-IT Resources

Video “Opening Doors: Mentoring over the Internet”

www.uw.edu/doit/Video/index.php?vid=21

Guidelines for Mentors

www.uw.edu/doit/Brochures/Programs/mentoring.html

Book “Creating an E-Mentoring Community: How DO-IT does it, and how you can do it, too”

www.uw.edu/doit/Mentor/

Recommendations • Emphasize strengths-based mentoring and concrete

information sharing and experiential activities based on the goals for mentoring and young people’s interests and developmental needs.

• Include young people and mentors with disabilities in all mentoring programs, as well as networking among mentoring programs focusing on mentees with disabilities and other programs. – Focus on disability as an element of diversity just like

race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, first generation, etc. Strive to support culturally congruent mentoring experiences and creative accommodations for youth who have diverse characteristics and experiences.

Recommendations

• Provide young people with a diversity of mentoring and other experiences that respond to their unique interests and needs – mix and match type of mentoring offered and matching factors based on program goals and what seems most important to youth.

• Establish specific and measurable mentoring outcome goals, and design, communicate, and support mentoring experiences that support those goals.

Jo-Ann Sowers (sowersj@pdx.edu)

Laurie Powers (powersl@pdx.edu)

Scott Bellman (swb3@uw.edu)

Additional Resources

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• Partners for Youth with Disabilities: Best Practices Guide

and Mentoring 101: An Introductory Workshop for New

Mentors http://www.pyd.org/res

• US Department of Labor: Policy on Mentoring Youth with

Disabilities http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/cultivate.htm

• National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability: Paving

the Way to Work: A Guide to Career-Focused Mentoring

http://www.ncwd-youth.info/topic/mentoring

• National Center on Secondary Education and Transition:

Issue Brief

http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=704

• Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for

Children and Youth, Volume 50, Issue 4, 2006

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/PSFL.50.4.31-

35#preview

Before we go…

26

All attendees will receive an email after the webinar

that will include:

Instructions for how to access PDF of

presentation slides and webinar recording

Link to the Mentoring Forum for resources,

contact information & opportunities to continue

the dialogue

Please help us by taking the time to complete a

short 5-question survey as you exit the webinar.

Future Webinars

27

June 21 - Better Mentoring for the LGBTQ

Youth in Your Program: Stepping Up to the

Challenge

Discuss how youth mentoring programs can

better serve youth that are questioning their

sexual orientation or identifying as lesbian, gay,

bi-sexual, transgender, or queer. Panelists

include Christian Rummell, Executive Director of

Mentorist Consulting and Linda Peterson,

Manager of Training & Technical Assistance at

Mass Mentoring Partnership.

Collaboration of Education Northwest/National Mentoring Center, Friends

for Youth, Indiana Mentoring Partnership, Mentor Michigan, Mentoring

Partnership of Minnesota, and Oregon Mentors

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

Thank you! Sarah Kremer, sarah@friendsforyouth.org

April Riordan, april@mpmn.org Amber Troupe, troupea@michigan.gov Candice Singleton, csingleton@iyi.org

Marissa Wilkens, marissa@mobiusmentors.org